LTT Store - Expensive Shipping

[jtbtroon]

Just tried to buy a t-shirt on the new LTTStore and get it shipped to the UK. $20 for the shirt and $48 for the shipping! Unfortunately, I can't justify that. Any plans to adjust the shipping costs to make it more affordable?

 

Thanks in advance.

[imreloadin]

1 minute ago, jtbtroon said:

Any plans to adjust the shipping costs to make it more affordable?

Sure if you want it to take a month to get to you maybe

[3 Lions]

Yeah I have to agree that the shipping costs are brutal, it is a new venture for them so hopefully they can become more competitive in the future. I'm guessing you want the circuit board design, correct? 

[Guest]

Its a large problem from me as well living in NZ, so I just buy knock-off merch from Aliexpress. Even EpicMealTime is there lol. Free shipping and cheaper too, why would I buy off off the actual creators when someone else doesn't charge me twice the price, just for shipping. I don't mind waiting a month, because I'm used to that, but expensive shipping just puts me off so much, and doesn't go to the creator anyway. 

[3 Lions]

2 minutes ago, RorzNZ said:

Its a large problem from me as well living in NZ, so I just buy knock-off merch from Aliexpress. Even EpicMealTime is there lol. Free shipping and cheaper too, why would I buy off off the actual creators when someone else doesn't charge me twice the price, just for shipping. I don't mind waiting a month, because I'm used to that, but expensive shipping just puts me off so much, and doesn't go to the creator anyway. 

In the case of LTT merch, the DBH store is still up and while the t-shirts are $5(USD) more expensive the shipping costs are way less coming in at an extra $4 (USD). The DBH store doesn't sell the circuit board design but let's say you just wanted the classic LTT logo tee, the DBH shirt is a cheaper option though I would guess this store will be phased out in the first months of 2019.

[TetraSky]

They've talked about this in the most recent WAN Show and they are aware that shipping costs are high right now.  With their previous merch provider, LMG noticed that they had swapped in low quality junk after a while in an effort to save money, essentially a bait and switch.

 

You're free to buy ripoff from Aliexpress if you really want to, but don't fool yourself thinking you're getting anywhere near the same clothing quality. You'll be getting what is essentially a $2 shirt with a $0.5 printing job on it.

[3 Lions]

9 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

they had swapped in low quality junk after a while in an effort to save money, essentially a bait and switch.

To be honest I bought one of the shirts from DBH and the quality of the print is excellent. I also have one from their original provider (Teespring) and have noticed that the quality of the print is worse than what I saw from the videos from the time but the base shirt is excellent (American Apperel). 

[Canada EH]

3 hours ago, CUDAcores89 said:

I buy all my clothing from the thrift store, so T-shirts are $2 for me.

I go in just to look around, sometimes they got good shit in there for cheap, even Value Village the creme-de-la-creme of high prices in Thrift store junk. Not much use really for me in clothing, other then a thick hoody, once in Banff Church on a month bender. Jeans used to be Walmart, but I havent been in Walmart in a while. What I used to think about doing is buying Fruit of the Loom T's and ironing on my own design, but I havent worn T-shirts, aside from crushing iron and winking at the babes in the gym, in decades!

[pepporony]

Yep...

[Teddy07]

On 12/23/2018 at 12:04 AM, jtbtroon said:

Just tried to buy a t-shirt on the new LTTStore and get it shipped to the UK. $20 for the shirt and $48 for the shipping!

 

Don´t you also have to pay import tax?  

[Princess Luna]

International shipping is costly though....

[3 Lions]

1 hour ago, Teddy07 said:

Don´t you also have to pay import tax?  

Yep the Royal Mail puts charges on items that come from countries outside the EU. The funny thing is though the Royal Mail blame the border force and the border force blame the Royal Mail for putting charges on it, in fact both are to blame since you get charged customs and a handling fee. 

 

Total rip off...

Edited December 25, 2018 by LinusTechTipsFanFromDarlo

[3 Lions]

1 hour ago, Princess Cadence said:

International shipping is costly though....

That is true and I fully accept you have to pay a customs fee but when the postal service puts a handling fee on the item, that is a bit cheeky. 

[dizmo]

That shipping price is definitely excessive, though I'm not sure LTT is to blame. Do they actually ship the items themselves, or are they sent through a third party fulfillment center? Who was the shipper, and did you have multiple options for shipping companies?

 

On 12/22/2018 at 4:06 PM, imreloadin said:

Sure if you want it to take a month to get to you maybe

10 - 12 business days for USPS isn't too bad

On 12/22/2018 at 4:19 PM, RorzNZ said:

Its a large problem from me as well living in NZ, so I just buy knock-off merch from Aliexpress. Even EpicMealTime is there lol. Free shipping and cheaper too, why would I buy off off the actual creators when someone else doesn't charge me twice the price, just for shipping. I don't mind waiting a month, because I'm used to that, but expensive shipping just puts me off so much, and doesn't go to the creator anyway. 

Perhaps not directly, but it's a tax write off, so it does help them in some form.

On 12/22/2018 at 5:34 PM, CUDAcores89 said:

I buy all my clothing from the thrift store, so T-shirts are $2 for me.

 

If you really care about helping out your favorite creator, donate to them in some form. Buying a shirt from them only gives the creator $1-3 anyway.

I think they get a hell of a lot more than that when they're making it themselves. If they're still getting a third party to do everything (printing, shipping, etc) then perhaps...though I'd imagine they still get at least $5 per shirt. They're doing their own design work as well.

5 hours ago, pepporony said:

Yep...

Haha, well yeah. UPS Expedited is expensive. Was that the only option?

1 hour ago, Teddy07 said:

Don´t you also have to pay import tax?  

Tax on a $20 item shouldn't be much.

1 hour ago, Princess Cadence said:

International shipping is costly though....

It doesn't have to be, though. USPS ships internationally, tracked, for under $15.

20 minutes ago, LinusTechTipsFanFromDarlo said:

Yep the Royal Mail puts charges on items that come from countries outside the EU. The funny thing is though the Royal Mail blame the border force and the border force blame the Royal Mail for putting charges on it, in fact both are to blame since you get charged customs and a handling fee. 

 

Total rip off...

Eh, not really. You buy something from abroad, you should have to pay tax. Only makes sense. The handling fee and customs fees also make sense, as someone has to process the package. Don't like it? Buy local and support your economy.

[3 Lions]

4 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Eh, not really. You buy something from abroad, you should have to pay tax. Only makes sense. The handling fee and customs fees also make sense, as someone has to process the package. Don't like it? Buy local and support your economy.

Like I said I fully accept the customs fee but what I don't accept is the handling fee which in the UK is usually £8.00

[pepporony]

5 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Haha, well yeah. UPS Expedited is expensive. Was that the only option?

 

Yes, it was. For reference, B&H Photo offers UPS Global Saving (or some name) to me for like $11 and it took 1-2 weeks. So I'm not sure why this one only offer Expedited shipping.

[dizmo]

10 minutes ago, LinusTechTipsFanFromDarlo said:

Like I said I fully accept the customs fee but what I don't accept is the handling fee which in the UK is usually £8.00

So...you don't think someone handled the package and filled out the paperwork associated with importing the item?

8 minutes ago, pepporony said:

Yes, it was. For reference, B&H Photo offers UPS Global Saving (or some name) to me for like $11 and it took 1-2 weeks. So I'm not sure why this one only offer Expedited shipping.

I don't think Worldwide Saver is a service that's available in Canada. So, if that's where they're shipping from, and they haven't looked into shipping via the US, that's likely the issue.

[3 Lions]

14 minutes ago, dizmo said:

So...you don't think someone handled the package and filled out the paperwork associated with importing the item?

It has nothing to do with that, the Royal Mail receives the package when it arrives into the country and then it goes to a local depot where you have to go to pick it up. This is what they charge you for.  

[AlTech]

Wow....

 

I can confirm the Shipping is wayyyyyy too expensive by any standard.

 

 

I could easily send a T-shirt to canada for basically £10 or less and have it arrive within a week. There's really no need to use UPS when we know most of the time they're wayyy too expensive especially in this case.

 

For the EU they should honestly find another shipping company who can actually ship it for a reasonable price.

[AlTech]

On 12/22/2018 at 11:06 PM, imreloadin said:

Sure if you want it to take a month to get to you maybe

It might just be UPS overcharging them or something cos using other shipping methods would most likely be cheaper.

[dizmo]

3 minutes ago, LinusTechTipsFanFromDarlo said:

It has nothing to do with that, the Royal Mail receives the package when it arrives into the country and then it goes to a local depot where you have to go to pick it up. This is what they charge you for.  

And they charge you duty and customs fees, right? How do you think these fees are calculated? Magically? A lot of the time someone checks them.

2 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Wow....

 

I can confirm the Shipping is wayyyyyy too expensive by any standard.

 

 

I could easily send a T-shirt to canada for basically £10 or less and have it arrive within a week. There's really no need to use UPS when we know most of the time they're wayyy too expensive especially in this case.

 

For the EU they should honestly find another shipping company who can actually ship it for a reasonable price.

Have to remember it's Canada we're talking about. Not the US. So shipping costs are higher.

[3 Lions]

1 minute ago, dizmo said:

And they charge you duty and customs fees, right? How do you think these fees are calculated? Magically? A lot of the time someone checks them.

As I said I'm totally fine with the customs fee. 

[dizmo]

1 minute ago, LinusTechTipsFanFromDarlo said:

As I said I'm totally fine with the customs fee. 

Yes, and as I said, someone looks those up and applies them. Or checks the package by hand. Or hands it to you at the counter.

Thus, handling.

[AlTech]

Just now, dizmo said:

Have to remember it's Canada we're talking about. Not the US. So shipping costs are higher.

Even so, I would expect it to cost at least half as much. Honestly at those prices they shouldn't be selling it to EU people until they can find a replacement shipping company.

 

Why couldn't they partner with Canada Post or whatever? Here, business buy shipping from Royal Mail or DPD in bulk at a discount and it's not expensive.

[dizmo]

2 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Even so, I would expect it to cost at least half as much. Honestly at those prices they shouldn't be selling it to EU people until they can find a replacement shipping company.

 

Why couldn't they partner with Canada Post or whatever? Here, business buy shipping from Royal Mail or DPD in bulk at a discount and it's not expensive.

Not from Canada, not via UPS. Granted, they should be using a different service, but they're relatively new to this.

If some people are willing to pay it, why not? At least the option is there. Not everyone cares about dropping that kind of money on a shirt.

 

Canada Post isn't very economical when it comes to international shipping either. Have to remember, the UK has more than twice the population of Canada and a much smaller footprint, so their running costs are lower.